Eddie Stobart reverses into Westbury

Eddie Stobart, the iconic road haulage company, is set to be listed on the London Stock Exchange after announcing a reverse takeover of Westbury Property Fund.

The company's practice of giving its 900 ubiquitous red and green trucks their own unique female name has helped make it a household name in the UK, where it has even spawned an Eddie Stobart fan club and a lucrative merchandising division - which at one time was more profitable than the main business.

The new company, which will be known as Stobart Group Limited, hopes that its fans will be just as interested in buying its shares as they are in motorway-spotting.

Eddie Stobart, which is expected to make profits of around £8m this year on a turnover of more than £140m, traces its origins back to the 1960s when Eddie Stobart junior joined his father's agricultural haulage business.

He grew the business into a successful haulage and distribution company over the next 30 years but it ran into difficulties in the early 2000s. He sold it to his brother William and his business partner Andrew Tinkler in 2004.

As part of the deal, Mr Tinkler and William Stobart are buying almost all of Westbury's property portfolio for £142m, a slight premium to the net asset value.

Westbury will then buy Eddie Stobart Group from Mr Tinkler and Mr Stobart for £138m, comprising £62m in cash and £76m in new shares in the revamped group.

William Stobart, managing director of Eddie Stobart, said: "We believe the future of industrial logistics is about the integration of all modes - linking roads with rail, ports and waterways and, in time, air freight.

"We believe the merger of our company with one that has a complementary strategy to ours, a strong balance sheet and an experienced Board, will enable us to invest and grow to benefit our customers, shareholders and staff."

Mr Tinkler owns 73pc of Eddie Stobart, while Mr Stobart owns 27pc and the cash and shares will be divided along these lines.

Mr Tinkler is to own around 20pc of the new Stobart Group Limited and Mr Stobart will own around 8.5pc, with Westbury's existing shareholders controlling the rest.

Westbury announced last year that, with the commercial property market nearing the top of the cycle, it was looking to dispose of its property assets and move into ports and logistics.

Richard Burrell, who manages the Westbury Property Fund, said "this is the right time to be diversifying away from commercial property."

He described this as a "very good deal for Westbury shareholders" and added that it had the backing of major investors Invesco, Artemis and Jupiter, which between them control just under 50pc of Westbury's existing shares.